This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a Chevron-branded gasoline service station, with eight underground storage tanks holding gasoline, waste oil, and hydraulic oil, alongside service bays equipped with a grease sump and hydraulic lift. In 1989, all eight USTs, associated product lines, dispensers, the grease sump, and the hydraulic lift were excavated and removed, with liquid product pumped from the excavation and drummed for disposal. Monitoring wells were then installed and sampled over a 23-year period until soil and groundwater were confirmed to meet cleanup standards, resulting in a No Further Action determination in 2012. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
Why Historical Insurance Policies May Be Accessible
Pre-1986 Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies were occurrence-based and did not contain an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. If contamination occurred while those policies were active, those historical insurance carriers may still have a legal obligation to fund the cleanup costs, even if the business closed or the property changed hands.
The petroleum contamination at this Chevron station originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated well before 1986 — the 1989 removal of eight tanks, product lines, and dispensers marks the opening of a remediation timeline that ran 23 years before Ecology issued its No Further Action determination in 2012. Occurrence-based CGL policies in force during those pre-1986 operating years carried no effective pollution exclusion, meaning historical carriers who wrote coverage for this site may still bear obligations for the documented excavation, product recovery, and multi-year groundwater monitoring costs.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
